Tag Archives: 2006

Surviving the spectre of COVID-19 / “Song Analysis” #61: Pet Shop Boys – Numb

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I have been writing quite a lot during the pandemic, but there’s a lot of drafts that sit unfinished. Every time I’ve started a new draft of one of these analyses, I think about how infinitesimally unimportant my writing is in the current world we live in, and I feel guilty. People are fighting for their lives from hospital beds and from the streets. There are pockets of unrest and discord all over the world that look like tinderboxes ready to explode at any moment.

None of us here on Earth have a crystal ball, but I think it’s safe to say that everyone on this planet is in for a rough ride for the foreseeable future. There are a lot of people hurting, confused, and feeling hopeless. There is a lot of advice out there already, but I wanted to provide my take on things you can do today that will help you cope during this difficult time.

My best recommendation? Stay safe and healthy, which means isolating when and where you can and wearing a mask if you must go out and interface with other people. If you need help, reach out. I cannot stress this enough. Life is always tough, but it’s especially tough now given that many of the usual, healthy coping mechanisms like seeing friends, being social, and going to the gym are prohibited or may look very different than what we’re used to. We’re going through an unprecedented time, and the feelings you have may be unfamiliar or heightened. None of this “I have to be productive like everyone else in isolation” if your mind can’t go there. It’s self-defeating and entirely unhelpful. Don’t compare your response to that of others. We all react to stress in different ways. Give yourself plenty of slack. Be gentle with yourself.

If you haven’t already tried this, a constructive, artistic outlet to release your negative feelings can really help. It’s a great option if meditation, sitting still, and contemplating your navel doesn’t work for you. Listening, dancing, and/or singing to music can be therapeutic. Writing out your feelings can be another big help. Just getting it out on paper is a good exercise to get it out of your system. Writers like me do this all the time.

Above all, if you’re feeling anxious or depressed, please don’t suffer in silence. It isn’t hopeless. Help is available. I saw this Instagram post from A Safe Place Inside Your Head recently, and it really hit home for me. I can help you find other resources, too. Find me on Twitter.

Title: ‘Numb’
Where to find it: ‘Fundamental’ (2006, Parlophone [UK], Rhino [US]); ‘Concrete’ (2006 live album, Parlophone [UK])
Performed by: Pet Shop Boys
Words by: Diane Warren

I put song analysis in quotes in the title of this post, because I feel that the words of the below song are self-explanatory. I did, however, want to post the lyrics for the person who is reading this post, can relate to them, and may find solace in the song as a whole. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with disconnecting from the news and social media right now. We are in the middle of an emotionally overwhelming situation, with the end and resolution uncertain.

I’ve been listening to a bunch of different music while in isolation. In the past week, I’ve been seeking out live albums on Spotify that I’ve never heard before. I came across ‘Concrete’, a 2006 live album of the Pet Shop Boys that was recorded for a BBC Radio 2 programmed called Sold on Song. Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe specifically chose songs for the setlist that had been previously written to have orchestral backing, making this a beautifully unique set.

‘Numb’ is an unusual song to feature on Music in Notes, in that the song was not written by the Pet Shop Boys themselves. It was written by Diane Warren, a well-known name in the pop music world, having penned many a mainstream top 40 hit. The song was a single off their 2006 album ‘Fundamental’. This song follows 3 years later after another famous tune called ‘Numb’ by a singer we sadly lost in 2017.

I hope that if you’re reading this post, reading the lyrics, watching the live performance in Mexico, and hearing Neil Tennant’s plaintive voice below provide you some solace. Please know you’re not alone.

Verse 1
Don’t wanna hear the news
What’s going on
What’s coming through
I don’t wanna know
don’t wanna know
Just wanna hide away
make my my escape
I want the world
to leave me alone
Feels like I feel too much
I’ve seen too much
For a little while
I want to forget

Chorus 1
I wanna be numb
I don’t wanna feel this pain no more
Wanna lose touch
I just wanna go and lock the door
I don’t wanna think
I don’t wanna feel nothing
I wanna be numb
I just wanna be
wanna be numb

Verse 2
Can’t find no space to breathe
World’s closing in
right on me now
Well that’s how it feels
that’s how it feels
Too much light
There’s too much sound
Wanna turn it off
Wanna shut it out
I need some relief
Think that I think too much
I’ve seen too much
There is just too much
thought in my head

Chorus
I wanna be numb
I don’t wanna feel this pain no more
Wanna lose touch
I just wanna go and lock the door
I don’t wanna think
I don’t wanna feel nothing
I wanna be numb
I just wanna be
wanna be

Bridge
Taken away from all the madness
Need to escape
escape from the pain
I’m out on the edge
about to lose my mind
For a little while
For a little while
I wanna be numb

Chorus 2
I don’t wanna think
I don’t wanna feel nothing
I wanna be numb
I don’t wanna feel this pain no more
Wanna lose touch
I just wanna go and lock the door
I don’t wanna think
I don’t wanna feel nothing
I wanna be numb
I just wanna be
wanna be numb
I just wanna be
wanna be numb

Outro
All the madness
I wanna be numb

Bass Line #5: Muse – Supermassive Black Hole

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These days, Muse appear to have lost the plot: incorporating dubstep into their latest album ‘The 2nd Law’, they’ve become less the power house they once were. There is also the matter of Matt Bellamy, who I have accepted is a songwriting genius, but he comes across as an altogether too proud peacock (even for a male rock star) and it’s when I think about how larger than life his stage persona is, I feel bad for drummer Dom Howard and bassist Chris Wolstenholme, who have to be “okay” with their leader’s various machinations.

Playing ‘Supermassive Black Hole’ reminds us that there was a time before the 2012 London Olympics when Muse were the best in their genre. It’s taken so long for America to get on board the Muse bandwagon and the timing of their success here is quite funny, given that they’re now trying a different direction. With less prominent bass. Groan. I wonder what Wolstenholme thinks of the band now, after doing this great interview with Bass Player magazine in 2009.

It drives me insane when I talk to a casual music fan and they’re saying how great a guitar solo is in a song or how great Guitarist X in a band is. I’m not dissing guitarists and their expertise, but bass players don’t get a lot of credit because people can’t seem to hear or appreciate what they’re playing, unless you’re 1) a bass player yourself or 2) looking specifically for the bass line. One time when I was small, I asked my dad how come the parts for the guitar in a song didn’t match the melody that was sung by the singer, the part I sung along to. He explained that all the parts in a band were supportive to the overall playing of a song and that’s why when you took one part out by itself and played that section, it sounded nothing like what it would sound like if all the parts were playing together at the same time. His was a perfect answer to a child’s question and gave me a measure of awe that all these parts put together make a song? Wow! I sometimes wonder what he thinks about me playing bass instead of piano now. He is probably chuckling.

Below I’ve embedded a very nice bass cover I’ve found (played on a really, really gorgeous axe to boot!), along with the band’s performance of the song at the War Child benefit at Shepherds Bush in February 2013. As is typical with most of these filmed performances of bands, much of the attention is given to Bellamy, but it’s good that they’re still willing to play the “classics” (god, I feel old) and Wolstenholme gets some screen time.